There are things we just don't see—remote places under the sea, in the savannah or covered in snow, whose joys, dramas and tragedies we aren't privy to. And yet we affect them.
In "Dream," a beautiful stop-animation video by DDB New York for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival, four animals facing extinction tell their stories through the words of "I Dreamed a Dream"—a song you'll recognize if you're a Les Misérables fan.
The animals appear, majestic and undisturbed, in their natural habitats. The drama begins when a sinister group of men arrive, their battered ship piercing through the darkness. They're scary, twisted figures. Unlike the warm, living faces of the animals, their eyes transmit an eerily commercial luminosity that matches the lights of their cars and ships.
It all goes downhill from there. The ending constricts the heart, and reminds us that our comforts come at a painfully parasitic cost.
Since "The Scarecrow," we've rarely seen a standalone piece of animated brand work this strong, though it clearly owes an inspirational debt to that Chipotle ad, which came out three years ago.
Beautifully brought to life by production company Zombie Studio, the video includes guest vocalists Natalie Bergman (who plays the rhino), Ryan Merchant (the whale), Keenan O'Meara (the pelican) and Tal Fisher Altman (the seal), whose wrenching close does lots of emotional heavy lifting.
The Wildlife Conservation Film Festival takes place from Oct. 17-23 at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater in New York. You can buy a festival pass for $175, or individual "Film Series" tickets for $18 in advance or $25 at the door.
The goal of the WCFF is to develop public awareness programs to teach people about global biodiversity protection. "Dream," created pro-bono for the campaign, will run online, in social and at WCFF events before, during and after the festival.
CREDITS
Client: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF)
Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S. - Founder & CEO
Agency - DDB New York
Chief Creative Officer - Icaro Doria
Creative Director - Thiago Carvalho
Head of Art / Creative Director - Bruno Oppido
ACD (Art Director) - Guilherme Rácz
ACD (Copywriter) - Lucas Casão
Head of Production - Ed Zazzera
Senior Producer - Amanda Van Caneghem
Senior Account Executive - Matthew Leach
Music/Talent Manager - Linda Bres
Music & Sound Design "I Dreamed A Dream" by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Jean-Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer
Music, Sound Design and Final Mix by Mophonics
Animation Production:
Directed by Zombie Studio
Executive Producers: Natália Gouvea, Paulo Garcia
While you're out on the town, or busy at work, do you obsess about what might be going on back at home?
Perhaps you're worried the babysitter's skeevy boyfriend will show up for a makeout session, and that his even skeevier friends will start pawing your wardrobe. Or do you imagine your pooch setting off a conflagration in the yard while the house fills with suds from an overflowing tub? Hey, maybe you're convinced your pre-pubescent son will take the car for a spin and back it through a wall,
Actually, all of that stuff could happen at the same time. Couldn't it?
To see what's most likely happening while you're out, watch the ad below, created by CP+B Miami as part of its first major campaign for home security startup Canary:
Huh. It was actually pretty quiet back at home. Guess this wasn't the day for Junior to start driving after all. (Great line delivery, though—get that kid a sitcom!)
Allaying irrational fears among tech-savvy millennials and Gen-Xers is what the company's pitch, promoting overall brand awareness and the launch of its indoor/outdoor HD Canary Flex product, is all about.
"Canary users are highly engaged with the product, checking the app more than three times per day to stay connected to what's happening at home and with loved ones, even if that loved one is a pet," CMO Bob Stohrer tells Adweek. "The key takeaway: Don't let your mind wander. Live life in the know."
Hey, a little more compulsive app checking will never hurt anyone, right?
Staged with comic gusto by Gifted Youth's Peter Atencio, who directed every episode of cult Comedy Central series Key & Peele (as well as, famously, Pepsi's Jeff Gordon prank from a few years ago), the Canary ad was filmed over two days, split between a soundstage and suburban house.
"The whole thing came together almost without incident, which was pretty amazing considering it involved very young children, several animals, some fire, shattering glass and little bit of flooding," says CP+B executive creative director Jay Gelardi. "It's a challenge to trash a house on film while not doing any damage to the actual, beautiful house. So, parts of the house needed to be recreated in a studio, but much of the destruction actually happened—very carefully—on location. And some of the slips and stumbles were unintentional, which always adds to the painful authenticity."
Yes, using Canary to inspect your home from afar could yield tangible safety results. You might discover you left the garage door open or water boiling on the stove, and engage other home-tech wizardry to rectify such situations.
Mostly, though, the product provides an instant balm for modern anxieties. When the overwhelming majority of users check their homes using the app, they'll see nothing amiss, and get exactly the reassurance they're looking for. Unless they rent the place to a commercial film crew, that is. Those dudes sure can make a mess.
CREDITS
Client: Canary
Campaign: "While You Were Out"
Agency: CP+B Miami
Executive Creative Director: Jay Gelardi
Creative Director: Graham McCann
Designer: Andrea Novo
Project Manager: Ethel Jones
Director of Video Production: Kate Hildebrandt
Integrated Producer: Jackie Maloney
Production Company: Gifted Youth. Los Angeles, CA
Director: Peter Atencio
Managing Partner/EP (Production Co): Dal Wolf
EP of Production (Production Co): Anthony Ficalora
Producer (Production Co): Michele Robb
Director of Photography: Jas Shelton
Editorial Company & City: Arcade Edit. Santa Monica, CA
Editor: Sean Lagrange
Executive Producer (Editorial Co): Crissy DeSimone
Producer (Editorial Co): Alexa Atkin
Music Company & City: Beacon Street Studios. Venice, CA
Executive Producer (Music Co): Leslie DiLullo
Principals: John Nau, Andrew Feltstein
Sound Design Company & City: Lime Studios. Santa Monica, CA
Sound Designer: Rohan Young
Executive Producer (Mix And Sound Design Co): Susie Boyajan
Mixer: Mark Meyuhas
Telecine Company & City: CO3. Santa Monica, CA
Senior Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld
Executive Producer (Telecine Co): Rhubie Jovanov
Visual Effects Company & City: Method Studios. Santa Monica, CA
Visual Effects Supervisor: Michael Kennedy
Senior Executive Producer (Visual Effects Co): Robert Owens
Producer (Visual Effects Co): Cara Lehr
Lead Compositor: Kelly Bumbarger
Director, Strategy: Sam Alonso
Group Account Director: Marci Miller
Management Supervisor: Julie Pfleger
Content Supervisor: Katie Perez
Executive Business Affairs Manager: Katherine Graham-Smith
You sit down to enjoy a lovely, high-quality craft beer. And then you ruin the gourmet experience by shoving a bunch of Pringles into your gob.
One brewer in Sweden is rectifying this not-really-a-problem problem with a goofy but fun stunt: To go along with the supposed epicurean majesty of its beverage, St. Erik's Brewery created a very high-class snack—potato chips featuring rare Nordic ingredients and sold in a pack of five for a whopping $56.
"St. Erik's Brewery is one of Sweden's leading microbreweries and we're passionate about the craftsmanship that goes into our beer. At the same time, we felt that we were missing a snack of the same status to serve with it," brand manager Marcus Friari says in a statement. "A first-class beer deserves a first-class snack, and this is why we made a major effort to produce the world's most exclusive potato chips. We're incredibly proud to be able to present such a crispy outcome."
The recipe for the chips was dreamed up by chef Pi Le. The ingredients include matsutake, one of the world's most sought-after species of mushrooms, and a special truffle seaweed from the Faroe Islands that can be found only in cold tidal waters.
"All of the chips have been made by hand," the chef says. "It took a delicate touch, a finely honed sense of taste and time to ensure that each chip would achieve a perfect balance between the various ingredients. The taste is a very Scandinavian one. … Most people recognize potatoes and onions, but what stands out is the quality. All of the ingredients are of a stature that not many will have tried before. These chips are an excellent accompaniment to craft beer, or simply enjoyed on their own."
A limited batch of 100 boxes of five chips each went on sale last week, and are already sold out. So, you're out of luck, I'm afraid—and you'll have to stick to Paqui's hellish hot, single-pack Carolina Reaper Madness chips instead.
The Lincoln Motor Company is out with a new print campaign shot by Annie Leibovitz, the iconic portrait photographer's first ads for a car.
The images feature musician Jon Batiste, artist Tali Lennox, actor Giles Matthey and director Ben Younger in and around the automaker's 2017 Continental, set against downtown backgrounds and country landscapes.
Overall, they are meant to convey a story about a group of up-and-coming creative professionals on a road trip from Brooklyn to upstate New York, featuring headlines like "How worldly you are has nothing to do with a passport" and the tagline "That's Continental."
See the seven ads here:
Leibovitz has famously photographed celebrities ranging from the Rolling Stones and John Lennon to Queen Elizabeth II, as well as ad campaigns for American Express and Disney. In 2015, Leibovitz shot this year's Pirelli calendar, drastically overhauling the tone of its traditionally sex-driven imagery.
The faces in the Lincoln shoot all have some pop-culture heft of their own. Batiste, for example, leads Stay Human, the house band on The Colbert Show; Lennox is the daughter of singer and songwriter Annie Lennox. A behind-the-scenes video from the shoot offers more insight into Leibovitz's process.
Lincoln, a luxury line long owned by Ford, is in the midst of a multi-year brand reinvention spearheaded by Hudson Rouge, the agency WPP launched in 2012 to handle the brand. Its output has also featured the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Beck.
Read on below for perspective from Jon Pearce, the shop's chief creative officer, on why Leibovitz was the right fit for the campaign, what it was like to work with her, and how the agency approached pairing copy with the images she shot.
I think it starts with the fact that we're positioning Lincoln as a warmer, more human-oriented brand than the other luxury manufacturers, who tend to focus on the machine itself.
So, to launch the new Lincoln Continental, considered their new flagship, we went to the world's most renowned portrait photographer, Annie Leibovitz. She's not a "car" photographer in any sense, so I guess it was a calculated risk we took. But we did know that she would capture something special in her subjects, and integrate them beautifully and memorably with Lincoln's new vehicle. At this point in Lincoln's transformation as a brand, we can't afford not to "go big" with any of our campaigns. Their new vehicles are beautifully designed and the interiors are amazing, so we need to continue to find interesting ways to bring this to the forefront in a relentlessly congested media environment.
Annie likes to work with a narrative story for her shoots. So we presented her with a number of scenarios. She really took to the idea of friends going somewhere for a short stint, and came back to us with a very detailed road trip concept. She told us about the trips she took with her father when she was young, and how the framing of the rear window influenced her seeing things in a photographic landscape format. She was also inspired by the fact that the Lincoln Highway was our country's first transcontinental highway, and that our shoot could be inspired by that.
Her idea for our four subjects was that they were on a location scout for an independent film they were making. And that storyline continues through to who they really are in their personal lives—a film director, a musician/bandleader, an artist and an actor.
I found Annie to be, not surprisingly, very professional and very clear in her vision. She was great to work with, and really understood what we were trying to do with this launch for Lincoln.
When it came time to making the ads themselves, we had written a number of lines expressing this idea of "That's Continental." We're very lucky to have a product name that has a history and resonance in and of itself. We also like that it can be used to describe a "Continental" approach to life—one where you're curious about the world around you, and you use that knowledge not in a showing-off kind of way, but with a quiet confidence. We felt that the continental attitude really came through with Annie's portraits. When we saw her edit of the images, we started pairing the lines we had written to the various portraits. Some of the lines can work on multiple images, but in the end, we think we found some great pairings.
These ads should help further the notion that Lincoln is changing. It's becoming a brand that's much more contemporary than people may have thought. And the quiet confidence you get from the people and settings of these portraits should connect with consumers who may be open to considering a luxury brand like Lincoln, who see in them a different approach than most of the other luxury automobiles out there.
CREDITS
Client: The Lincoln Motor Company
Agency: Hudson Rouge
Global Chief Creative Officer: Jon Pearce
Group Creative Director: Jeff Payne
Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Emlyn Allen
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Brett Minieri
Creative Director: Ashley Davidson
Director of Content Production: Suzanne Crowe
Senior Art Producer: Kaia Hemming
Agency Chief Executive Officer: Paul Venn
Account: Doug Molloy, Eileen Lyons, Albert Moy
Photographer: Annie Leibovitz
Production: Annie Leibovitz Studio
—Credits for Behind the Scenes Video
Client: The Lincoln Motor Company
Agency: Hudson Rouge
Department: Brand Publishing Lab
Global Chief Creative Officer: Jon Pearce
Creative Director: Ashley Davidson
Editorial Manager: Ashley Eldridge
Director of Content Production: Suzanne Crowe
Agency Producers: Celia Williams, Stephen Wright
Agency Chief Executive Officer: Paul Venn
Account: Erin Camin
Production Company: Moving Image Projects
Director of Photography: Barbara Leibovitz
Behind-the-Scenes Photographer: Mark Schafer
Production: Annie Leibovitz Studio
Editorial House: Cutters
Editor: Scott Gibney
Producer: Julia Pepe
Today one of the ad world's largest and most prominent independent agencies announced a major restructuring of its organization as its 35th anniversary approaches.
Wieden + Kennedy—which will celebrate its birthday in April 2017—more than doubled its team of global partners from nine to 24, creating a new unit called Wieden + Kennedy Stakeholders, as it looks to cement and extend its unique position within a rapidly changing industry. In addition to this expansion of its leadership, W+K also named two executives to lead its efforts to win new business in emerging markets via offices in Tokyo, Shanghai and Delhi.
"Our current nine-person partner group is based on a model we've outgrown," says global president David Luhr in a statement. "That group doesn't reflect the breadth of perspective and skills we want to see in the next generation of leaders, and the next, and the next." He adds, "Given the size and complexity of the agency, we need more decision-makers representing more offices, more disciplines and different voices. Our leadership needs to be a bigger and better reflection of the agency we have become."
The primary change is the addition of these 15 executives to the stakeholder group:
Chief financial officer Claudia Valderrama
Director of emerging markets Karrelle Dixon
London executive creative director Iain Tait
London chief strategy officer Paul Colman
London deputy managing director Helen Andrews
New York managing director Neal Arthur
New York executive creative director Karl Lieberman
Portland executive creative director Joe Staples
Portland director of strategic planning David Terry
Nike global creative director Alberto Ponte
Nike global communications director Daniel Sheniak
Portland group account director/director of publishing Jessica Monsey
Sao Paulo managing director Andre Gustavo
Amsterdam executive creative director Eric Quennoy
Amsterdam executive creative director Mark Bernath
Luhr spearheaded these changes along with global chief creative officer Colleen DeCourcy. The two have been in their current positions since 2013, with DeCourcy promoted to partner in 2014. Many now see Luhr as the natural heir to co-founder and chairman Dan Wieden.
"We are focused on making work that is culturally relevant and influential, and that lives across more places and channels," says DeCourcy in explaining the move. "We are rethinking what 'work' is, embarking on unexpected collaborations, and seeking to grow in interesting, smart ways. This group is charged with pushing us further down these roads and others we haven't even considered."
Karrelle Dixon of Wieden + Kennedy Portland, who was promoted from global account director on the Nike business to director of emerging markets approximately six months ago, will lead the network's efforts in the aforementioned regions as managing director along with Kim Papworth, who led the agency's London creative department for 15 years and now serves as the creative chief of its emerging markets operations.
The new partners will join these nine members of the W+K stakeholder group:
Founder, global chairman Dan Wieden
Global president Dave Luhr
Global chief creative officer Colleen DeCourcy
Executive creative director of emerging markets Kim Papworth
W+K London managing director Neil Christie
Executive creative director Tony Davidson
Executive creative director Susan Hoffman
W+K Portland managing director Tom Blessington
Executive creative director Mark Fitzloff
"I am so damn proud of this place," says Dan Wieden in a statement on the news. "We started as a ship of fools, and that, I quite firmly believe is why we have succeeded for almost 35 years. But I really never thought we would be talking about the next 35. The hope is always that the next generation does better than the one before them. I think under the leadership of Dave and Colleen, and this inspiring group of new stakeholders, we just might be onto something."
LAS VEGAS—Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" is one of those legendary campaigns that changed everything, not just for the Unilever brand but for the category and, indeed, the industry as a whole—helping to usher in an era when brands could be more honest about the artifice of messaging, and become more real and relevant to consumers.
Malcolm Poynton, now global chief creative officer at Cheil Worldwide, was one of the key architects of the original "Real Beauty" work, a dozen years ago at Ogilvy London.
Adweek caught up with Malcolm in Las Vegas, where he was leading the Integration jury at LIA judging. We asked him about his three favorite ads of all time, and not surprisingly, the Dove work came up.
Check out the video to hear from the New Zealander about the Dove legacy, as well as his other favorite ads, what he's excited about in the Cheil network (including some nifty product innovation), and how the LIA judging process went.
Duracell returns to the Star Wars universe today, launching a holiday-themed tie-in to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ahead of that film's release in December. The 60-second spot plays off Duracell's holiday donation of 1 million batteries to power toys at 147 Children's Network Miracle Hospitals nationwide.
Developed by Anomaly and directed in suitably cheeky-epic style by Simon McQuoid, "How the Rebels Saved Christmas" goes straight for the heartstrings, telling the tale of some heroic moppets on a mission of mercy:
"We wanted to continue our partnership with Star Wars this year and continue celebrating the power that imaginative play has on kids," Duracell marketing director Ramon Velutini tells Adweek. "We came across the most incredible insight: Kids at hospitals continue to act as kids even during tough circumstances, and imaginative play plays a big role in their ability to cope during their healing process."
He adds: "We got the use of a newly opened hospital wing that had yet to be put to use. The exteriors were shot outside of a disused train factory, and all of the Star Wars costumes and gear were flown in separately by Lucasfilm."
Of course, the Star Wars franchise is all about sequels, and this Duracell ad follows a popular 2015 Force Awakens-themed spot, also from Anomaly, which depicted a spectacular space battle set in and around a suburban house on Christmas morning. This year's commercial has a similar vibe, effectively mixing Star Wars pyrotechnics with earthbound locales and integrating the imaginative world of kids with George Lucas' Imperial vision.
That said, the more serious message of "The Rebels Who Saved Christmas" gives the latest spot extra depth and dimension, casting Duracell in a positive light undiminished by the promotional nature of the enterprise. (The ad is way more charming and less manipulative than some we could name, and the company's real-world support for the cause adds a layer of authenticity.)
Plus, the Star Wars association seems especially apt. Battling illness and injury in a hospital setting can feel like taking on the Dark Side in all its fearsome fury. For ailing fans, a battery-powered mini R2-D2 could be the greatest gift in the galaxy, and the best medicine on Earth.
CREDITS
Client: Duracell
Agency: Anomaly
Production: Imperial Woodpecker
Director: Simon McQuoid
Executive Producer: Charlie Cocuzza
Producer: Anita Wetterstedt
Editorial: Arcade Edit
Editor: Jef Ferruzzo
Editorial Assistant: Sam Barden
Executive Producer: Sila Sober
Producer: Fanny Cruz
Finishing/Graphics: Industrial Light & Magic
Associate Producer: Megan Matousek
Colorist: Company 3
Colorist: Tim Masick
TBWA\Worldwide announced today that Brent Anderson will be leading the Apple business as chief creative officer of the dedicated TBWA\Media Arts Lab unit. This marks the first change atop the account in 16 years.
Duncan Milner, who has been creative lead on Apple since the founding of Media Arts Lab in 2000 and ascended to the CCO role in 2009, will now assume a new role as global chief creative president. He will work on unnamed domestic and international accounts and take on a greater share of responsibility at MAL\FOR GOOD, the purpose-driven marketing arm of Lee Clow's organization. But he will no longer work on Apple.
"Nothing is more important than giving trajectory and growth opportunities to individuals who have earned it through their work, vision and leadership," says TBWA\Worldwide president and CEO Troy Ruhanen in a statement. "Brent is an exceptional talent, a natural leader, and will drive the kind of disruptive, culture-defining work that is worthy of the world's most iconic brand."
Anderson was promoted to chief creative officer at TBWA\Chiat\Day's Los Angeles office in June, and he takes over the account at a time of significant change for Media Arts Lab as Apple recalibrates its digital marketing work.
Presidents Erica Hoholick of TBWA\Media Arts Lab and Erin Riley of TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles will remain in their roles, as Los Angeles creative chairman Stephen Butler seeks a replacement for Anderson. The agency characterizes Anderson's new role as evidence of his success within the larger TBWA organization, which recently turned in its most successful Cannes Lions performance in more than six years.
Apple hired former Grey chief creative officer Tor Myhren as its new vice president of marketing communications last December, and his appointment preceded a string of executive-level changes at the tech giant's dedicated ad agency.
A source tells Adweek that Apple and TBWA agreed on plans to take the company's future marketing efforts in a different direction without providing further detail. Other sources claim that Myhren has gradually worked to make Apple a more open organization and that this principle also applies to its advertising partners, as TBWA\Chiat\Day and Media Arts Lab more actively collaborate across campuses despite the fact that they remain two separate and distinctive organizations.
MAL\FOR GOOD launched last year as an embodiment of Lee Clow's dedication to social movements around the world. The L.A.-based unit collaborates with various global TBWA offices, and Milner's appointment signifies the larger network's dedication to expanding the MAL\FOR GOOD footprint by working with more companies that aspire to facilitate change in the interest of the common good.
"Having Duncan at the creative helm of MAL\FOR GOOD is a testament to the importance of this practice within TBWA," says Ruhanen. "Duncan will be able to pull from his vast experience to do very important and disruptive work on some of the biggest issues facing the world today."
A boy suffering from kidney failure isn't weak. He's a gladiator about to step into the ring for battle.
So says a gorgeous, jaw-dropping new campaign from SickKids Hospital—or as it's more formally known, The Hospital for Sick Children—in Toronto.
In the centerpiece anthem, titled "SickKids VS: Undeniable," ailing children, alongside their families, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff, all gird for battle—as medieval soldiers, pro wrestlers taking baseball bats to dialysis machines, and comic book superheroes.
It's a gripping two-minute argument from agency Cossette—more than anything, for the power of imagination as a vehicle for hope, and metaphor as a medical tool. Anyone who has struggled through a serious illness, or watched someone else do it, knows that defiance isn't to be undervalued. This takes that basic insight to new heights, with enough of a playful tone to match and address its core subjects.
More than 50 SickKids patient families agreed to participate in the film, and 100 staff members from the hospital also lent a hand, on or off camera.
To be clear, the fight imagery—interspersed with medical animations, neon motion graphics naming diagnoses, and dramatic footage of life-or-death moments during care for context—is impressive in its own right. But it's the soundtrack, "Undeniable" by Donnie Daydream featuring Richie Sosa, that pushes the spot into extraordinary territory.
A bone-crushing rap, driven by a steadily pounding kick drum, perpetually crescendoing synth bass, militaristic snare patterns, and haunting, echoing crashes and yelps, it's no surprise that the song (or versions of it) have already found a home in other high-profile ads from Finlandia Vodka and Adidas.
None used it as effectively, though, as Cossette does here. That's thanks partly to the intrinsically sympathetic subject matter. But it's also because the war-themed concept, the Olympic-style execution and the blood-raising music combine to create an experience far greater than the sum of their parts. Even during moments that might risk seeming cheesy, the spot will take an emotionally engaged viewer on a rapid-fire trip—through uplifting highs, and endearing quips, and gut-wrenching lows, then back again—ending, appropriately, with a kid channeling a tiger's roar.
The only problem may be, in fact, that the message comes across too clearly, and could be mistaken for overpromising in a field—medicine—that can, at its best, only delay the inevitable, and in some cases not by nearly enough. It's worth emphasizing, for that reason, that the campaign's ultimate purpose is to fundraise for the hospital, including research into new treatments. In other words, it's not just speaking to specific kids' battles, but the broader goal—to win them all.
To that end, three more TV spots under the "SickKids Vs." umbrella will roll out through the end of December, with support across print, digital, out-of-home, and cinema. OMD handled media planning and buying. More print work and full credits are below.
CREDITS
Client: The Hospital for Sick Children
Agency: Cossette
Chief Creative Officer(s): Carlos Moreno, Peter Ignazi
Creative Director/CW: Craig McIntosh
Creative Director/AD: Jaimes Zentil
Agency Producer: Dena Thompson
Account Supervisor(s): Olivia Figliomeni, Daniel Dolan Account Director: Hanh Vo
VP, Brand Director(s): Michelle Perez, Steve Groh Chief Strategy Officer: Jason Chaney
Production House: Skin & Bones
Director: Mark Zibert
DOP: Jackson Parrel
Executive Producer: Dan Ford Line Producer: Joan Bell
Editing House: Skin & Bones
Editor: Marka Rankovic Transfer/Online Facility: The Vanity
Flame Artist: Sean Cochrane Colorist: Andrew Exworth
Animation: The Mill NYC
Animation: a52 Audio House: SNDWRX Music Creative Director: Didier Tovel
Song: Undeniable - by Donnie Daydream Feat: Richie Sosa Clients VP, Brand Strategy and Communications: Lori Davison
Director, Integrated Brand Marketing: Kate Torrance
Director, Digital Projects: Mark Jordan
Manager, Patient Ambassador Program: Lisa Charendoff Marketing Manager: Tina Tieu Marketing Manager: Harleen Bhogal
Coordinator, Public Relations: Madeline Salerno
Viewers tuning in for coverage of the third and final presidential debate on Wednesday night will see both sides working together for the greater good, blazing new trails toward a brighter tomorrow.
Alas, we're not talking about the candidates for our nation's highest office. They'll surely snipe and grouse—and in the case of the GOP's nominee, sneer and leer—as usual. Fiat Chrysler's Jeep brand, however, will seek to bridge the gap by launching new election-themed ads on CNN's pre-debate show and MSNBC's pre- and post-debate coverage. (The debate itself is commercial free. How un-American!)
Developed by mcgarrybowen, a quartet of 15-second spots continue the distinctive split-screen visual style Jeep used in the first patriotic installment of this campaign. That ad ran during coverage of the previous two presidential debates, and will encore tonight in a spiffy 30-second edit.
As for the new content, Jeep's soft-sell message of social harmony and unification works hard to cut across party lines. Owners of the off-road Grand Cherokee Trailhawk and luxury Grand Cherokee Summit models consistently find common ground in various vehicle features, such as the Parallel Park Assist system, which is the focus of the ad below:
"We wanted to bring to life the two 'souls' of the brand—the freedom upon which the brand has been rooted since 1941, and the adventurous American spirit that propels the brand forward today," says Fiat Chrysler CMO Olivier Francois, who was recently named Adweek's 2016 automotive Brand Genius for his efforts on Jeep. "The split-screen concept as a means to underscore that duality was one that intrigued us from the start, but we couldn't do split screen without purpose. The launch of the two new Jeep Grand Cherokee models was the perfect opportunity."
As for the political bent, he adds, "the presidential campaign allowed us to add one more dimension, or another layer."
In the next ad, we learn about Quadra-Lift Air Suspension, a progressive feature that even conservative drivers can love:
According to Francois, the debates give Jeep "one of the biggest stages after the Super Bowl this year, but with a very different level of cost." Ads running during debate coverage are selling at a fraction of the Big Game's nearly $5 million price tag for a 30-second spot. (Jeep created two notable commercials for Super Bowl 50 last February, "4x4ever" and "Portraits." The latter won the Super Clio for best ad in the game, and was Adweek's pick too.) And while the Super Bowl delivered an audience of about 112 million, the three debates combined will handily beat that figure. (In fact, the first two Clinton-Trump meetings already lured 145 million viewers combined.)
Next, let's check out Lane-Departure Warning and Blind-Spot Monitoring, which sound like they'd come in handy during debate prep:
And finally, it's plain to see that Selec-Terrain technology helps candidates of all stripes navigate those inevitable bumps in the road:
Given the consternation in some circles over Cat Stevens' conversion to Islam, the hippie-dippy song choice for the campaign has raised some eyebrows, but Francois prefers to focus on the message rather than the messenger.
" 'When You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out' was intended as anthem to respect and peace when it was written in 1971," he says. "The song's message still holds true today."
Remember, regardless of our differences, we're all Americans, so it really doesn't matter if you're on the left or right. (Unless, of course, you're actually driving at the time.)
For some, the political thrust may seem like a stretch, but it's timely, and makes sense given Jeep's heritage as a can-do American brand. (Yes, it's manufactured by an Italian automaker nowadays, but you can't have everything, capisce?)
CREDITS
Client: FCA U.S. – Jeep brand
CEO: Sergio Marchionne
Chief Marketing Officer, FCA - Global: Olivier Francois
Director of FCA U.S. Brand Advertising: Marissa Hunter
Head of Jeep Advertising: Kim Adams House
Jeep Advertising Manager: Nicole Pesale
Agency: mcgarrybowen New York
Chief Creative Officer: Matthew Bull
Executive Creative Director: James Cheung
Executive Creative Director: Cliff Skeetie
Copywriters: Annie Egan, Kent Koren, Peter Min, Jesse Custodio
Art Directors: Luke Partridge, Chris Park
Executive Producer: Dan Fried
Managing Director, Integrated Production & Design: Dante Piacenza
Managing Director of Music Production: Jerry Krenach
Music Producer: Stephen Stallings
Music Licensing Supervisor: Jonathan Hecht
Director of Talent Services: Sue Ayson
Business Manager: Barbara Silverstein
Group Managing Director: Lindsey Schmidt
Account Director: Lauren Bronchtein
Account Supervisor: Brittney McDonald
Account Executive: Christina Harman
Production Company: Superprime Films
Managing Director: Rebecca Skinner
Managing Director: Michelle Ross
Executive Producer: Colleen O'Donnell
Director: Sam Bayer
Editorial Company: Whitehouse Editorial
Editor: Josh Bodnar
Assistant Editor: Alejandro Villagran
Producer: Nick Crane
Virgin America's First Class Shoe isn't just some plain old sneaker.
Hand crafted in Milan, Italy, this snazzy high-top was assembled to reflect the amenities of Virgin's first-class cabins. White leather. Wifi. Mood lighting. Video display. USB phone charger. Stainless-steel airline-style belt buckle. It's all there! (Too bad the shoes can't buckle themselves.)
"We really wanted to give people the chance to experience what it's like to fly Virgin's first class cabin with both feet still on the ground," says Mike McKay, chief creative officer at ad agency Eleven. "We spent almost eight months with Virgin America designing and executing the First Class Shoe. First, we looked at what was currently going on with wearable technology, and there didn't seem to be a shoe that could deliver this level of technology."
Here's a video explaining this promotional flight of fancy:
"The biggest challenge was finding components that were small enough to be built into the shoe," says McKay. "The cell phone charger, the video monitor and the wifi hotspot all had to be very small and lightweight enough for the shoe to be wearable and comfortable."
Because if you pay almost $100,000 to buy the world's only pair—yes, they made only one—you'd wear 'em on your morning run, right? Or maybe to soccer practice?
The shoe is being auctioned off on eBay. The current bid is $98,600. There have been 112 bids so far, and the auction ends on Sunday. Proceeds benefit Soles4Souls, a nonprofit that distributes shoes and clothing to those in need.
Hey, maybe it's time for original Virgin pilot and uber-moneybags Richard Branson to step up with a bid and launch this cause marketing/earned-media play into the stratosphere!
Now, let's bring this post in for a landing with a GIF that shows the First Class Shoe playing Virgin's loopy passenger-safety video. (Party on, flying nun!)
CREDITS
Virgin America First Class Shoe
Agency: Eleven, Inc.
Chief Creative Officer: Mike McKay
Creative Director: Ricard Valero, Chad Leitz
Design and Manufacturing: Rob Heppler, Searchndesign (Italy)
Sr. Copywriter: Jon Korn
Sr. Art Director: Jeremy Diessner
Social Copywriter: Julie Blakley
Social Art Director: Jacob Hellstrom
Producer: Calvin Wan
Project Management: Monique Verrier
Creative Technologist: Anderson Oliveira
Editor: Chris Caceres
Activation Strategy Director: Fiona Su
Social Media Strategist: Jessica Gast
McCann New York is taking a satirically Swiftian approach with its latest PSA for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Titled "Keep America Safe," the ad highlights toddler gun violence by advocating that we start jailing kids so they don't accidentally shoot us in our own homes—citing the results of a study by the Associated Press and USA Today that bears all sorts of grim tidings about children's access to guns and the consequences thereof.
Just like when you read A Modest Proposal in high school, it's a guarantee that some viewers will think the ad is for real. It's certainly delivered with an impressive poker face. Hopefully, a greater percentage will see that the ad is mocking the sorts of crazy measures the pro-gun lobby will propose before even considering gun control. They may not agree with it, but we just hope they see it.
The Toddlers Kill website mentioned at the end of the ad, it should be noted, is a more obvious plea for gun control.
The new Ford Edge is so enchanting, it will turn the vicious assassin that an arms dealer hired to kill you into a smitten guardian angel—though the killer with the heart of gold might still steal your ride as payment for his protection.
So says a new eight-minute short film for the automaker from agency GTB, starring actor Mads Mikkelsen as the hitman, and directed by Jake Scott.
Tracking the story of a couple turned state's witness against a weapons smuggler, it follows them into hiding as Mikkelsen's character stalks them, and their bright orange SUV, which apparently they've decided to bring with them to their new Mediterranean village home. (Presumably it was just too good to give up, even if they didn't mind changing their faces with a little casual plastic surgery.)
Mikkelsen, playing the titular "Le Fantôme" or "The Ghost," is ultimately so charmed by the car that he refuses the bounty, and even protects the couple from the second murderer sent to replace them—swapping their Edge for an old two-seat motorcycle and a couple of plane tickets to Peru.
In other words, the film straddles the line between the somber and the absurd—though how intentionally isn't, at first, entirely clear. The stakes are high—life and death. The hero is blocky. His motivation is goofy—a point that seems most deliberate when he pauses his hunt to nuzzle the car. The Ford seems woefully out of place, a point the story halfway strives to acknowledge but doesn't quite defuse. Its modern profile sticks out like a sore thumb against the lush, classic, dilapidated backdrop that the production so beautifully shapes.
Ultimately, it doesn't feel believable. This isn't a luxury automobile, and it's not obvious whether Ford is asking people to laugh at the car without quite giving reason to do so, or to applaud the car as a down-to-earth antidote to the hackneyed, dazzling underworld tropes the film goes to great lengths to polish.
Ultimately, it's most likely the latter. A fair reading would find the whole film a delightfully arch send-up of gangster narratives, and a celebration of modesty and morality. Regardless, the visuals are wonderful, and Mikkelsen's performance is eminently watchable—enough in its own right to keep the audience hooked, and guessing.
In fact, the only real crime may be the color of the car.
CREDITS
Agency: GTB
Chief Creative Officer: Julian Watt
Executive Creative Director: Bryn Attewell
Creative Director: Peter Hvid Producer: Romila Sanassy Group Business Director: Sarah Rosser
Account Director: Sian Patrick Senior Account Manager: Luke Johnson
Account Executive: Mathilde Pors Planning Partner: Stephen Wallace
President: Paul Confrey Client Services Director: Fabio Ruffet
Director, Integrated Planning: Melanie Elliot
Prod Company: RSA Films
Director: Jake Scott Exec Producer: Cindy Burnay Editor: Joe Guest at Final Cut
Director of Photography: Mark Patten
Production Designer: Joseph Bennett
Photographer: Nigel Harniman
Cast
Le Fantôme: Mads Mikkelsen The Widow: Barbara Steele Hero Couple: Karin Perathoner and James Brown
The Kingpin: Jon Campling Interpol Agent: Zarko Radic
Ford
Vice President, Marketing, Ford of Europe: Matthew Van Dyke
Marketing Communications Director, Ford of Europe: Anthony Ireson
Brand Content Manager, Ford of Europe: Lyn West SUV Brand Content Manager, Ford of Europe: Chris Rushton
Nothing sells fast food like cranky old people reminiscing and/or bickering with each other.
That's what GSD&M is hoping, because their three new spots for Steak 'n Shake depend on it. The three ads star Percy and Walter, whose recollections of 1934 (the year Steak 'n Shake was founded) are dim at best. All three spots were directed by Joachim Back, who won an Oscar for his short film The New Tenants back in 2010.
In "You Can't Trust Machines," Walter goes on a measured rant about powdered milkshakes and veers dangerously close to bringing up the onion on his belt before the ad cuts to the official Steak 'n Shake pitch.
"Steak 'n Shake 'n Shave n' Shoeshine 'n Suit" makes fun of exaggerated stories about how cheap everything was when our grandparents were young, as Percy explains what $4 got him back in the '30s. (The visual of the unbalanced sign falling down is great.) His anecdote totally ignores the brutal reality of segregation at that point in history, but that's a heavy topic for a fast-food ad, so I get it.
"Breakfast" is another winner, as Percy—who is really driving the comedy team by this point—explains his role in coining the term "homestyle breakfast."
Now that they've got my attention, the polite thing for Steak 'n Shake to do would be to open a Maryland location that isn't in BWI airport or Glen Burnie.
CREDITS
Client: Steak 'n Shake
Campaign: Done Right Since 1934 "Smiling Contest" – "Shoeshine" – "You Can't Trust Machines" – "Breakfast"
Agency: GSD&M
Chief Creative Officer: Jay Russell
Group Creative Directors: Kris Wixom/Wlisa Wixom
Art Director: Erin Stevens
Creative Director: Brett Baker
Director of Production: Jack Epsteen
Executive Producer: Bill Wine/Marianne Newton
Account Service: Mark Durein, Lauren Paver
Marketplace Planning: John D'Acerino, Nick Howard
Business Affairs Manager: Jillian English
Project Manager: Maria Roepke
Production Company for Video
Prod Company: Anonymous Content
Director: Joachim Back
Editor: Cartel/Andy McGraw
Food Stylist: Alyssa Sarfity
Production Company for Food
Prod Company: MacGuffin Films
Director: Kevan Bean
Stylist: Nir Adar
Loctite really put a lot of itself into these new commercials.
In fact, the company's adhesive and insulation products were used to build the long, continuous sets that give the 30-second spots their unique visual identity.
In the first ad below, we learn how Loctite helps contractors and DIYers solve "gap problems." You'll marvel (or not) as the pitchman glides past stylized brick and tile wall mockups treated with Loctite foam. That guy's quite the expert on gaps, and he may even seem a bit familiar:
Yas! It's Chris Reese—aka, "Gaps"—who shook his fanny pack for all it was worth in the brand's lauded 2015 Super Bowl commercial. (VH1 crowned it "the greatest" Big Game ad of the year, and the spot placed third among Adweek's favorites.)
This time around, "our Loctite clients briefed us to rethink the traditional demo ad," says Jason Bottenus, creative director at Fallon, which developed the campaign. "We knew we wanted to continue the brand voice we established with our Super Bowl ad. The challenge was to make a demo people would actually watch and believe."
Hey, who could have more credibility on bonding stuff into "one sexy continuous thing" than a bro with a unibrow? Check out the hairy hijinks below:
Now, in the first ad, Reese's toothy divide is the real gaping deal. In the second spot, actor Jeffrey Lewis required makeup to adequately fabulize his forehead.
The technical issues involved in filming presented quite a challenge. "Both the actors and the camera moved on a dolly simultaneously," Bottenus says, "so it took an extreme amount of coordination and a lot of takes to give the illusion of a single-take spot."
Overall, it's a fun way to showcase what most folks would consider a dull product, and Fallon deserves credit for keeping its grip on the campy Super Bowl vibe that proved so appealing.
On set, Bottenus says, a good time was had by all: "Everyone, including our Loctite clients, took a turn getting a photo op while sitting on the chair glued to the wall."
CREDITS
Client: Loctite
Agency: Fallon
Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Kling
Creative Director: Jason Bottenus
Copywriter: Lucas Tristao
Art Director: Daniel Alves
Director of Film Production: Pat Sidoti
Account Services: Chris Lawrence
Business Affairs: Joanna Jahn
Director: Fatal Farm (Gifted Youth)
Editor: Kyle Brown (Arcade Edit)
Color: Mark Gethin (MPC)
Flame: Mark Holden (MPC)
Mix: Jeff Payne (Eleven)
Sound Design: Tone Farmer
Facebook Live is a big, important product for the world's biggest social network. But up to now, many users still don't really know what Live is, or how to use it. Or they might be intimidated by live broadcasting, and reluctant to try it out.
A new international ad campaign launching Monday in the U.S. (and Sunday night in the U.K.) aims to address those issues—and get more and more of its user base aware of, and willing to try, a Facebook Live broadcast.
The ads, created by Facebook's in-house creative team The Factory, feature videos that were recorded by real Facebook users, all shot using Facebook Live on a phone, to capture the fun and spontaneity of the format.
The campaign will be launched in two stages. The first stage, launching Monday, is about awareness and will feature short vignettes of Facebook Live broadcasts running on TV and on Facebook as 15-second spots. These spots, along with some digital billboard creative, will begin with a 3-2-1 countdown.
"These ads are meant to introduce the campaign. We want people to see these clips and feel inspired to go Live with their friends," Rebecca Van Dyck, vp of consumer and brand marketing, tells Adweek. See some that work below.
Awareness ads, video:
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Awareness ads, out-of-home:
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Two weeks later, on Monday, Nov. 7, the next phase of the campaign will begin—a tutorial phase that will focus on showing people how to go Live, not just the results of going live.
This phase will be "a little more educational—the ads are a fun guide for how to go Live," says Van Dyck. "It's the same aesthetic, but in many cases very site-specific. For example, we have one on a billboard in Times Square that literally says, 'How to Go Live in Times Square.' "
Tutorial ads, video:
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Adweek responsive video player used on /video.
Tutorial ads, out-of-home:
All of the content for the campaign—every video, ever photo—was shot using Facebook Live on a phone. None of the dialogue was scripted. Indeed, The Factory found the footage for the campaign from real people using Facebook Live.
"You have the ability to control your audience settings on Facebook, and anytime anyone goes Live and sets their post to 'public,' it shows up on this really fun Facebook Live Map that anyone can access," says Scott Trattner, vp and executive creative director for brand marketing at Facebook. "[We were] all over that map, finding different moments where people were using the product. From there, we reached out to people and asked if we could use their videos in our campaign."
Thus, the creative is meant to be as authentic as going Live is.
"The lion's share of the 3-2-1 vignettes were created by people using Facebook Live," says Trattner. "It's all real people. There were a few tutorial films where we gave people a prompt, but the entire campaign is unscripted. What's also cool is that the entire campaign was shot on the product [Facebook Live] using iOS and Android phones. We had some minor cleanup here and there, but the overall campaign is authentic—just like Facebook Live."
The work has a pleasantly buoyant feel, thanks in part to the slew of Reactions emojis that flood the screen and float around in each video. (In horizontal videos, the emojis make good use of the black space on either side of the vertical FB Live clip.)
This feel-good vibe, combined with the lighthearted clips themselves, is designed to counteract anxieties Facebook users might have about broadcasting live, which after all can be an intimidating move. Users know exactly what they're posting when they put up legacy Facebook content like status updates and photos, but broadcasting live is a different experience—and can make the user feel much more vulnerable.
"We really looked to the community," says Van Dyck. "People love going live, but when we looked at some of the research, it indicated that people are sometimes intimidated. A lot of people think Live isn't for them. Knowing these barriers, and knowing that we wanted to make it easy, fun and enjoyable to go live with friends, it was important to us that the campaign focused on both awareness and education."
She adds: "It was also helpful that there is so much great live content already out there. So the first part—actually finding the content—was a lot of fun. And from there, we looked at the different places people go live, where they might be inspired, and the different moments people use the product."
In a blog post, Facebook CMO Gary Briggs writes: "Over the past year, we've been amazed by all the ways that people, public figures, and publishers have used live video to share moments with others. Facebook Live brings people together in real time for moments both silly and significant. It's authentic and interactive, and it helps you share your experience in the moment with people you care about."
He adds: "Every day at Facebook we work to make the world more open and connected, and we hope this campaign helps people more easily share their experiences with others."
Fact-checking Donald Trump has been a full-time job for a lot of election observers this year. And Wieden + Kennedy has been doing its part, with a food truck in its hometown of Portland, Ore., that's been serving "Donald Trump's BS"—baloney sandwiches, that is, with wrappers that clarify Trump's remarks on various issues.
The food truck was parked in Pioneer Courthouse Square from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. "With 18 days to go and our fate in the hands of American voters, a new food truck has arrived in the mecca of food cart culture to serve sandwiches to the people, with a healthy dose of factual information," the agency tells AdFreak. "We've debunked some of Donald Trump's remarks on eight custom designed sandwich wrappers, across five different types of—you guessed it—baloney sandwiches."
The sandwiches were dubbed the Working-Class Hero, the Middle-Class Hero, the America-First Hero, the Border-Security Hero and the Tell-It-Like-It-Is here. The truck came "complete with a chef, concierge to take your order, menus printed on gold-colored paper, and free boloney sandwiches," W+K says.
See the wrappers here. Click to enlarge:
Free lunch is always a reliable PR tactic. And the agency says the truck was meant to be "a lighthearted theatrical expression that is intended to be a metaphor for Donald Trump's candidacy."
A number of high-profile creative shops and executives have weighed in on this year's presidential race, including Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, who've done a series of anti-Trump ads. And W+K, of course, doesn't shy away from political issues, as we saw in July when the agency replaced its website with a statement about Black Lives Matter.
Usually when a brand unveils a TV spot, any related content online is, at best, a marginal value-add. But lately, Geico's online extras have been at least as good—and in many cases, more fun or innovative or just plain weird—than the TV work.
We saw this with the Ice T work last month, and it's been true going back to the "Momversations" campaign with actress Cindy Drummond late last year.
Now, The Martin Agency has unveiled another fun TV-spot-plus-online-extras campaign, this time featuring some garbage-scavenging raccoons.In the TV spot, one raccoon is seen eating from a garbage can and remarking how awful it is, and then trying to get his buddy to try it (because "it's what you do").
The spot is amusing, as far as it goes. But Martin expands the concept online with a comical series of videos called Raccookin', in which the raccoons (or rather, lifeless raccoon arms) whip up some gnarly dishes in a series of disgusting cooking demonstrations, using ingredients found in their trash travels.
It's disposable content, sure, but it's done well (the hands constantly fumbling, prop-like, with the ingredients is a nice touch) and adds a layer of fun that nicely parodies the cooking-tutorial content that's everywhere these days.
Under Armour doesn't seem to mind when its star athletes fall just short of a championship. It makes for a better story when the next chance comes around.
UA and its agency, Droga5, have crafted a few of these redemption stories already—the famous one with London 2012 underachiever Michael Phelps ahead of Rio 2016, and Super Bowl runner-up Cam Newton's recent spot ahead of the Panthers' 2016-17 season.
Now, it's time for UA's biggest star, Stephen Curry, to avenge his loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals in June, a devastating finale to an otherwise dream season for Curry and the Golden State Warriors. (Curry set a record for 3-pointers and was the league's unanimous MVP, while the Warriors set their own record by finishing 73-9.)
Curry, 28, tweeted out the new video, made by Droga5 and MJZ director Harmony Korine, about an hour ago. It's a dark, gritty, neon-hued spot that acknowledges, among Curry's notable 2015-16 successes, the one big failure—and aims to make it right.
Or as the spot puts it: "Make that old."
There's nothing too revolutionary going on here. Fans—who are actually local youth basketball players—are seen gathering to celebrate Curry's achievements, then exhort him to do even better. Curry broods, then enters a glowing-pink practice court and gets to work. (He's seen wearing an elevation training mask, which simulates the limited oxygen intake at high elevations—a nod to UA's focus on the pain of prep, rather than the glory of results.)
The spot has a bit of a surreal vibe—not the supernatural overtones of the Newton spot, but rather a groovy '70s feel that's helped along nicely by the soundtrack, which is the 1971 version of Louis Armstrong's "Nobody Knows" as performed by Pastor T.L. Barrett & the Youth For Christ Choir.
"I will," says the onscreen text at the end.
Then we get a short coda showing the new product that's actually being advertised underneath the spot's larger redemption song—the Curry 3, available at retailers Oct. 27 and featuring UA's newest technology, called Threadborne, a fabric derived from the thread composition of a parachute. (The Dub Nation colorway, which is the one featured in the spot, will be available on UA.com and the UA Shop App on Oct. 25.)
"The last year has been an incredible roller coaster of emotions, and this campaign completely captures those highs and lows," Curry said in a statement. "This year, it's all about recalibrating to understand there's still so much left to do and achieve on the court and with Under Armour. This film, and the work we've done on the Curry 3, jumpstarts that mindset—knowing that the next chapter in our story will be written only by perseverance and the will to succeed."
UA remains the ultimate challenger brand to market leader Nike. And casting the game's best player as a challenger brand, too, is a neat and useful trick—the valuable silver lining to that brutal loss back in June.
CREDITS
Client: Under Armour
Campaign: Curry 3
Title: Make That Old
Launch Date: October 24, 2016
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Group Creative Director: Tim Gordon
Senior Art Director: Laurie Howell / Toby Treyer-Evans
Senior Copywriter: Laurie Howell / Toby Treyer-Evans
Junior Art Director (social): David Spradlin
Copywriter (social): Evan Barkoff
Executive Design Director: Rob Trostle
Senior Designer: Toga Cox
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Executive Producer: David Cardinali
Senior Broadcast Producer: Jennifer Chen
Senior Social Producer: Chris Parke
Music Supervisor: Mike Ladman
Music Supervisor: Ryan Barkan
Head of Interactive Production: Niklas Lindstrom
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Co-Head of Strategy: Harry Roman
Group Strategy Director: Will Davie
Strategy Director: Sam Matthews
Strategist: Newman Granger:
Head of Communications Strategy: Colleen Leddy
Communications Strategy Director: Hilary Heath
Communications Strategist: Kathryn Ruocco
Data Strategist: Kaveri Gautam
Executive Group Account Director: Julian Cheevers
Group Account Director: Shane Chastang
Account Supervisor: Jordan Cappadocia
Associate Account Manager: Andrew Mullen
Senior Project Manager: Bill Wilson
Project Manager: Connor Hall
Head of Integrated Production Business Affairs: Dianne Richter
Senior Integrated Prod. Business Affairs Manager: Librado Sanchez
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Alesa Blanchard-Nelson
Client: Under Armour
Chief Executive Officer & Founder : Kevin Plank
Chief Marketing Officer : Andrew Donkin
Senior Vice President, Global Brand Management: Adrienne Lofton
Senior Vice President, Global Communications : Diane Pelkey
Vice President, Global Creative : Brian Boring
Vice President, Global Consumer Engagement : Jim Mollica
Senior Director, Integrated Brand Communications : Jack Daley
Senior Director, Global Brand Management, Basketball : Julian Duncan
Senior Director, Global Sports Marketing, Basketball : Kris Stone
Director, Campaign Integration : Teresa Oles
Manager, Campaign Integration : Bené Eaton
Manager, Campaign Integration : Kristen Ensor
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Harmony Korine
DOP: Arnaud Potier
President: David Zander
Executive Producer: Kate Leahy
Producer: Laurie Boccaccio
Editorial: Cartel
Editor: Leo Scott
Assistant Editor: Vanessa Yuille
Managing Partner: Marc Altshuler
Executive Producer: Lauren Bleiweiss
Producer: Cristina Matracia
Post Production: Blacksmith
Executive Producer: Charlotte Arnold
Producer: Megan Sweet
VFX Supervisor, Lead 2D: Daniel Morris
2D Compositor: Rich Lyons
2D Compositor: Liz Lyons
2D Compositor: Iwan Zwartz
Color: Company3
Colorist: Tom Poole
Short Form Color Producer: Clare Movshon
Music: "Nobody Knows"
Written by Thomas Lee Barrett
Performed by T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir
Courtesy of Light in the Attic Records & Distribution, LLC
Under exclusive license from The Numero Group
Sound: Sonic Union
Mixer: Steve Rosen
Producer: Patrick Sullivan
Here's something no marketer has ever tried anywhere before in the history of the universe—a wacky vending machine stunt!
This particular machine, set up by VML to plug Hillshire Snacking's meats, cheeses and nuts as the fanciest treats in town, was painted gold and came with an ornate rug, velvet ropes and its own maître d' and butler.
The maître d' quizzed passersby to determine whether they were sophisticated enough to try some product. The butler—on duty inside the unit, naturally—handed out samples, sipped tea and made mock-snooty faces.
Brush off those natty tails, grab your monocle and check out the video below:
"Have you ever worn a jacket before, sir?" "Nah, I live in L.A." Heh.
Now, the dude with the operatic voice who sings on cue seems almost too good be to true. But we're assured he was a "real person" out for a stroll in Santa Monica during The Fanciest Vending Machine's two-day engagement in September. (As if anyone in L.A. is entirely "real," anyway.)
"We are targeting consumers with a millennial mindset," Megan Huddleston, director of marketing for the Hillshire Snacking brand, tells AdFreak. "They have a passion for food exploration and like to try new flavors and push boundaries."
Fair enough. Though the notion of a tricked-out vending machine seems sorta old hat (old top hat, that is). Plus, the folks who took part in the stunt probably would've appreciated a free beer for their trouble. Or swag. Though at least they didn't have to bow down to get some chow.
At times, actor James Lancaster, squeezed in behind the glass, looks like he could use a hug, but at least the crew tried to keep him comfortable.
"Staying true to the elevated nature of our brand, the vending machine was air conditioned," says Huddleston. "It was a hot day in L.A., and James was likely one of the coolest on set."
CREDITS
Client: Hillshire Snacking
Campaign: "World's Fanciest Vending Machine"
Agency: VML
Producer: Lara Hurnevich
Executive Creative Director: Mike Wente
Executive Creative Director: Sean Burns
Senior Copywriter: Alf Zapata
Senior Art Director: Conor Clarke
Production Company: Nice Studios
Director: Gil Nevo
Executive Producer (Production Co): Elizabeth Scully
Executive Producer (Production Co): Ian Noe
Director of Photography: Mark Odgers
Principals: James Lancaster, Mark Saul
Managing Director: Julia Hammond
Account Supervisor: Stephanie Jones
Associate Account Manager: Mary Tutera
Channel Supervisor: Nathan Jokers
Associate Channel Manager: Leila Choucair
